C21: Talk with Syr, and Magic Studies
Word count = 3148 on 1/16/2024
pre-Author Note: I have 6 tabs open in regards to fate magic systems to understand it with 2 of them even being accumulated knowledge on reddit. So it's pretty dang confusing and I feel doesnt at all account for servant magic systems so I have to bs that part. But enjoy and hopefully it makes sense.
On the other hand, in regards to last chapter. Axel gradually gains new personality traits from the fragments of his soul. Even I'd they aren't activated and giving abilities. Because of the Odr skill, those other fragments are still leaking in which is why some people may be confused by it. Felt the need to explain since It wasn't obvious
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Once Axel and Syr enter her room, she closes the door, locking it before she sits on her bed. Her demeanor then shifts as her eye color changes from gray to a rosy Violet color.
"My dear Odr, I do hope you have enjoyed your meal" 'Syr' says and Axel is shocked over the situation as his beloved goddess is possessing the body of another.
"It was delicious" he simply retorts as he tries to comprehend the situation.
"I assume introductions are in order. This body belongs to someone close to me, they allow me to live a human-like life as compared to being in my tower all day." She briefly explains and Axel accepts the situation but she isn't done speaking.
"Of course this body shall also serve as a seedbed for you. She shall swim in the pleasure that you inflict upon her as is my decree. But…not today. You should first become a regular here and make friends with the others so that they are more accepting of you, otherwise they may beat you up if they find you ravaged me here" Her sultry voice lures him in but her words push him away and he lightly growls in annoyance before she plants a kiss on his lips.
"Now now, don't you worry my dear. Be patient and you get to ravage all this" She says as she accentuates her firm but smaller breasts, her thighs and butt. Syr temporarily breaks free as she brings her skirt down with a red face, "Freya-sama, why, what makes him worthy?"
Her eyes take on a violet sheen again as she addresses Axel, "I have to explain some things to Horni, so could my dear husband leave for now" She gives him another kiss and he understands that he isn't getting lucky tonight but after begrudgingly paying for more food to go, as he promised to Raikou. Axel once again apologizes to Anya. He finally leaves the bar to the relief of others who don't believe that Axel could have done anything to Syr in that time.
Axel begins to return home with his food while Syr and Freya discuss with one eye gray and the other violet, "Freya-sama, please explain yourself now."
"Now Horni, you must understand, I have already chosen him as my Odr, I understand that you found that white haired boy cute but he falls short to Axel. remember Horni, you wanted to be me but as you and Axel are both mortal. It means I cannot bear the children of the man I love, which means you will be taking over that motherly position on my behalf."
The revelation shocks Horni before the fantasy of being hugged between Freya and the handsome bulky Axel while she rubs her own pregnant belly flows through her mind. She blushes hard and Freya notices this before she drives the final nail in the coffin.
"Besides, ever since that night, you had been masturbaiting to the pleasure his big fat cock had done to my insides, afterall, you can feel my pleasures and I yours my dear Horni. I've even relayed to you what I have seen when he screwed Raikou. You cant help but touch yourself even then. On the other hand, he has also grown taller, who knows what state the rest of his body has taken on.
Horni is fully lost in fantasy as she begins to undress and touch herself to her fantasies as the allure of Freya's charming voice mixing with Axel's enhanced appearance cycle through her mind. She is lost for the night in trying to ascertain how she might feel with every thrust of Axel into her and this fantasy is enough for her to forget about Bell.
Meanwhile Axel returns home and gives Raikou a surprise kiss as she takes in his new changes and he explains his hypothesis on how the amount of food he ate had changed his body through his skill. Raikou accepts the explanation and enjoys dinner with Axel before the two go to bed but Raikou reveals that his first magic lessons would start tomorrow since they are no longer in need of money. Axel says he understands and that he has to tell Daisy about it. Unfortunately that was the wrong response as Raikou quickly interrogated him and learned that Shuten Douji's child had signed up to be his supporter. She gets a smug expression as they finally go to sleep. Raikou would have loved to take on Axel's new physique on a test run but she has to make sure he is ready for his lessons as she doesnt want to scare away Murasaki-san.
The night soon passes and the sun rises once again as the duo of Raikou and Axel eat breakfast before Axel meets with the elegantly dressed Murasaki Shikibu. He is the one who is visiting her home as they don't have enough room in their own unless they close the dojo for the study days which it seems Raikou and Shikibu-san had discussed beforehand which is how Axel ended up sitting on a pillow within a stylized library with ribbons keeping all the books in place for each individual shelf. Murasaki sits opposite of him in her own customary dress but she has changed her hair into a ponytail which provides a clearer view of her beautiful face.
"Magic is a complex topic to explain but it fits into 3 forms. The first is that of the falna which is limited in number but has its own subsidiary forms. Falna magic is focused around incantations to manipulate the mind to create magic. This is similar to the third form of magic which I'll explain later. But falna magic can be either weak or strong based on one's own magic stat and mind limits. There is nothing intrinsically special about it except that it's 'easy' to cast. The falna itself does most of the work for its user."
Axel nods in understanding as he sips his tea which was given to him by his new teacher. This part of the teachings is easily understood as his own skills work as pseudo falna spells though he feels like there is a deeper connection that he isn't fully aware of (his own soul).
"The second type is considered true magic by us immortals and is exceptionally rare as this is true miracles which can achieve various miraculous effects such as revival, time travel or dimensional movement. There is no simple explanation for it with the exception that it requires one to be able to somehow connect to something called the 'root' (Gate of Akasha). Though there is a need to mention that there is supposed to be only 5 types of these magics, there is confusion of whether the Fourth and Second are any different as both have properties over time but in their own unique ways. This second type of magic also calls back to historical magic which is the basis of runes and magic scripture that allows us immortals to create mock Arcanum. This method of spellcasting is quite common amongst spellcasters like myself while the aforementioned 5 types are considerably rare and quite unknown to even us. I am unsure if you have heard of the magic tower but they are the primary researchers to attempt to learn or connect to this magic type." [1]
Axel is a bit confused by this part and even Murasaki-san has to drink some tea to clear her throat as she has overspoken about the topic due to it's heavily convoluted nature and how it's related to their own personalized magic styles.
"The third type is called MageCraft and it is the easiest but also weakest as it's based around the rules of Equivalent Exchange. You must tribute Mind to create magical events. This is especially similar to falna magic as mentioned before. This magic works around something called Thaumaturgy which uses the law of equivalent exchange to create magical events such as the elements or even more unique types but that all depends on your own source and affinities. Magecraft is meant to be the mock form of replicating the 2nd type of magic to a lesser degree."
Axel nods as the first and third aren't too different in explanation but different in application. Murasaki-san takes out an orb.
"Hold this and attempt to channel your mind into the orb. It typically takes months to figure out what one's source and attributes are before one can even practice magecraft which will the primary focus of my teachings unless you show affinity for my own type of magic or bits of others i've learned a bit from other immortals. While you channel the mind, I want you to also meditate and try to see your own soul if you can. That will help you get a better feel for your affinities to start practicing."
Axel takes the orb and begins to channel his mind as he has experience from controlling his gluttony skill to select parts of his body and even more so from his body morphing skill. As he does that, he tries to meditate as he was instructed. The crystal ball in his hand begins to glow various colors to signify multiple affinities with two being the most prominent. One is Pitch black and the other is a peach-like color. Murasaki attributes both of these to the 2 prominent skills she has witnessed from Axel's falna. She attributes this to gluttony and reinforcement type magics but gluttony would likely fall under void or hollow tags but reinforcement would be 'body'. She also sees a bright red flame but she can tell it's based on purity and not a strong affinity for it.
A closer observation lets her see that a metallic color is overlaid with the fire which is the reason for it's shininess. She estimates it's some sort of forging related aspect. She assumes that this will be simply a variant of the Fire affinity.
After these 3 lights show up, various smaller affinities and attributes show up before they are overwhelmed by other elements. Certain 7 show promise of potential to become brighter or more defined but in it's current state it's as if they are sealed as they take on a similar size to the first 3 lights.
Murasaki has finished her observation and waves her hand, the orb seemingly changing states as the lights disappear before 11 shades take up the glass ball. It is at this that Murasaki is thoroughly confused. "11 origins but there should only be one?" She blurts out in confusion before settling down and analyzing the factors and she can only assume that something happened to Axels soul and it absorbed the personalities/souls of others. Unknowing of how close she is, she begins to analyze the origins individually and finds that one is 'Consumption' which is disturbing to her and she thanks that the dungeon exists to channel his murderous intent [2], though it could also be Absorption but she will have to see more about Axel to be sure. She sees 'Projection, Imaginary Numbers, Flow/Transfer of Power'[2] (using 2 for all explanations that I can give). She can't identify the others as they are some sort of unique powers.
(A/N: I have at most 2 more ability reveals before I need to look for more so yall can give suggestions for some sort of physical/spiritual abilities that work like gluttony or parasyte)
Meanwhile, As Murasaki is identifying Axel's attributes and origins. Axel himself finds himself in darkness, he feels like he is inside water even though he has never seen a lake before. The weight of water pressing down on him. He tries to call upon his skills but they don't respond with the exception of a colorful light shining next to him but when he looks in that direction, he still doesnt see anything.
In confusion, he can only seek to swim what feels like deeper. As he swims, the less murky the water-like feeling appears to him. He soon enough regains his foothold and begins to walk 'downward'. He finally stops as he bumps into something, He thought it was some sort of barrier but feeling around, he finds that it's an isolated floating zone. He tries to grab it and then suddenly screams, "AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. HAH HAH Huh haaa". When the pain stops he begins to huff for air as if his lungs are burning, yet when he looks at the strange space again. He can see some sort of seed encased in space before him. The seed had 'sent' something to him which caused him the previous pain when he is suddenly sent flying and when he awakens. He finds himself floating outside Murasaki-sans house with a fragmented crystal ball in hand. After floating for a few seconds, he falls down with a crunch.
"Agh" Axel grunts as has a giant headache but he slowly gets up and the door slams open as Shikibuhas a worried expression on her face. "Come inside", Axel does with a confused expression.
They return to the same room as before. Shikibu can see the cracked orb and goes into thought while Axel asks, "What happened? How did I get outside?"
"You teleported"
"What!!" Axel reacts in shock.
"This was true teleportation, not magecraft or falna. I believe you have a knack for one of the previously mentioned true magics but you shouldn't try this again as the energy expenditure is very high." She gives her theory and warns him to not try again.
"My head feels like it's going to explode." He comments and Shikibu nods, "Your brain likely processed all the information at a rapid pace, it's also a rare symptom of mind down where your body doesnt shut down but translates the entire low mind situation into pain due to severe lack of energy. This is very close to fatal if you reached zero. Do be careful and not try this again until you have grown a few levels at least" She explains with ease as if it's a common problem for immortals or at least spellcasters like herself.
"Lie down for now and rest up. Once you have recovered, ill tell you what magics I can teach you"
Axel nods and lies down on his back, repositioning the pillow, Shikibu-san even gets a blanket for him to get comfortable. He falls asleep for a while before waking up and it's closer to early evening now.
"Murasaki-san?" He asks for his magic teacher.
"Call me Kaoruko[3]. No need to be so impersonal. Come let's have a seat again." She appears to the side of him, quickly opening the door to reveal a next door tea room that she was enjoying while reading. They both take their respective seats again While Axel also folds the blanket he was given.
"Your results were quite versatile. You have the greatest affinity for the Hollow element which is quite versatile as many utility spells and illusions like my own follow the hollow element. Your secondary affinity is Reinforcement magic which in layman's terms is buffing or boosting oneself and others. Your Tertiary is steel and fire but I feel as you level up, this could be replaced but I'm unsure yet as Raikou has told me of how your growth is."
Axel nods in response to the information as he is excited that he can even use magic or magecraft as Kaoruko calls it.
"To be able to cast spells, you must first learn to mold your 'mind' into a denser form called mana which is the original state of magical energy but the dungeon somehow sapped the world of this and released a weaker form called mind. Later I shall show you a procedure of faster condensation but you must first learn to do this manually in case you ever lose the capacity to do the automatic form of it."
The lesson continues and Axel's schedule is fairly set now as every other day, he meets Kaoruko for magic lessons, then the next day he goes to the dungeon, reaching the 10th floor again as he and Daisy accumulate Excellia and then spends a bit of time at the hostess of fertility where he doesnt overspend like last time.
The third day finally arrives where he has to meet the mysterious blacksmith.
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[1] I phrased it like this due to my own exposure to a pure fate fanfic that explains Medea's magic and how she can use something called the language of the gods which was taught to her by Hecate. Because they don't use magic circuits and thus not magecraft, which means that it's magic but it's not used as an example for any of the listed 5 types of magic. Like im literally searching around reddits garbage cans to understand the small tidbits that i'm now relaying to yall.
[2] Lio Shirazumi wiki for some 'fun' reading. Read background. Guy tried to eat a dead person due to the consumption origin manipulating his emotions to get rid of the evidence of his evil deeds. He a psycho.
Imaginary numbers allow the use of magic related to spirits which means soul magic.
Flow/Transfer of Power is related to Einzberns and how they can transfer consciousnesses between people and objects or something like that. This aspect is related to the next power which will be revealed, it's connected to the other soul aspects. I am describing this all loosely as there is a limited number of these attributes and origins which is why I'm being vague about it.
Origins are more related to Axel's personality and what could be his potential line of thought but just because he his consumption is more related to gluttony skill (Magister Daemonium) while attributes will be related to his magic itself but the fate system has a limited number and doesnt even cover most elements.
[3] Alt names for Murasaki Shikibu is Fujiwara-no-Kaoruko. This is from fate wiki.